Tech columnist David Pogue leaves NYT for Yahoo, plans to launch new consumer tech site

Yahoo has been on a serious acquisition hunt in recent months, gobbling up tons of startups in a series of “acquihires.” Well, now it just picked up one of the leading technology journalists.

Personal tech columnist David Pogue — known for his quirky and humorous writing (and video) style — is leaving The New York Times after 13 years to join Yahoo where he’ll start a new consumer tech site.

In a blog post titled “Goodbye—and Hello,” Pogue writes that he was ready for a new challenge after 13 years at the Times and that he was intrigued with what CEO Marissa Mayer is building.

He writes:

This is a company that’s young, revitalized, aggressive — and, under Marissa Mayer’s leadership, razor-focused, for the first time in years. Since she took over a year ago, Yahoo has regained its position as the #1 most visited Web site on earth. She’s overseen brilliant overhauls of several Yahoo sites and apps, and had the courage to shut down the derelict ones.

Above all, she’s created a “try stuff” atmosphere. She calls Yahoo “the world’s biggest startup.” People can really make a difference there. Yahoo is getting 12,000 résumés a week from would-be employees. Clearly, underdog status can be an incredibly motivating force. And for people who like to create cool new stuff — I’m among them — working to build the new Yahoo is a very attractive proposition.

In a blog post, Mayer writes that Pogue is among her favorite tech journalists, pointing to his charm and humor.

Yahoo is in a unique position to bring to life great editorial about the technology consumers are using every day. David is tremendously talented, has a great sense of humor, and is gifted at explaining technology. He also just happens to be one of the nicest and most positive people I’ve met. He has always been one of my favorite journalists, and I can’t think of a better person to make technology more accessible and helpful for the hundreds of millions of people who come to Yahoo every day.

But not everyone is a fan. Last week, Microsoft PR chief Frank Shaw ripped Pogue for his commentary about Windows 8.1. Shaw wrote in a Tweet:

@nytimes @Pogue Dear David Pogue, what a classic Pogue piece. Funny, inaccurate, opinionated in the skewed way only you can bring.

This gives you a sense of Pogue’s style, an open letter to Microsoft’s new CEO.

Pogue’s move to Yahoo comes amid other changes in the tech news landscape, including word that Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg will be leaving Dow Jones All Things D to create their own online publication. Meanwhile, the parent company of tech news site — The Verge — just raised $40 million.

John Cook is GeekWire's co-founder and editor, a veteran reporter and the longest-serving journalist on the Pacific Northwest tech startup beat. Follow him @johnhcook and email john@geekwire.com.

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Comments

John, you didn’t mention anything about potential conflicts of interests – given that Pogue has been reviewing Yahoo’s products (e.g. a positive review of recent Flickr changes) and the fact that Yahoo is now going to become his employer.

While there is no reason to suggest that Pogue deliberately wrote positive reviews to improve his own career prospects, I’m surprised that none of the stories on Pgue even suggest the possibility (or appearance) of a potential conflict of interests.

Tom Leung

I’m biased given I work for a crowdsourced product decision company but I do wonder if folks such as Mossberg and Pogue are becoming less relevant with the proliferation of media and crowdsourced opinions. Much like restaurant and movie critics, they seem less central these days. Be interesting to see how Yahoo takes a 1+1 = 3 approach to its product review content from editorial and UGC.